Processing device for the contactless communication with a data carrier which is detachably connected to the processing device

ABSTRACT

A processing device having a housing includes first communication device for receiving and/or transmitting an information signal and processor for processing the information signal received and/or to be transmitted, as well as second communication device for the contactless retrieval of control information stored in a data carrier which is detachably connected to the of the processing device, which processing of the information signal by the processing device can be influenced with the aid of the retrieved control information.

This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.10/023,118 filed on Dec. 17, 2001, entitled “Processing device for thecontactless communication with a data carrier which is detachablyconnected to the processing device” which claims priority to EPApplication No. 00890381.7 filed on Dec. 20, 2000.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a processing device for processing aninformation signal, which processing of the information signal can beinfluenced by control information. The invention further relates to adata carrier for the communication with the processing device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Such a processing device is known from the document EP 0 785 634 A2. Theknown processing device is formed by a mobile telephone, which has ahousing. The mobile telephone includes first communication means formedby an antenna and a telephone IC including its wiring. With the aid ofthe first communication means the mobile telephone is adapted to receivefirst audio information, which can be received from atransmitting/receiving antenna of a telephone provider in a transmissionprotocol executed by the telephone IC. Furthermore, the firstcommunication means are adapted to insert second audio informationapplied to the telephone IC into the transmission protocol and totransmit this second audio information to the transmitting/receivingantenna.

The known mobile telephone further includes processing means forprocessing the first audio information and for apply a loudspeakersignal to a loudspeaker of the mobile telephone. The processing meansare further adapted to process a microphone of the mobile telephone andto apply the second audio information to the telephone IC.

The known mobile telephone further includes second communication meansformed by a plurality of SIM card holders together with connection leadsand a part of the telephone IC. A SIM card is a plastic card which has acontact array having eight communication contacts and a telephone numberIC, which telephone number IC forms a data carrier for the communicationwith the mobile telephone.

When the user of the mobile telephone inserts a SIM card into one of SIMcard holders of the mobile telephone, control information stored in thetelephone number IC can be read out with the aid of the secondcommunication means of the mobile telephone via the communicationcontacts in a contact-bound manner. The control information stored inthe telephone number IC defines at least the telephone number of themobile telephone and of the telephone provider. The informationtransmitted in the communication protocol by the first communicationmeans and, if applicable, also the manner of processing of theinformation signal by the processing means are dependent on the controlinformation read out.

A SIM card holder of the mobile telephone is secured to an outer surfaceof the housing. The SIM card holders are connected to the outer surfaceof the housing by eight connecting leads by which the communicationcontacts of the SIM card holder are connected.

With the known mobile telephone it has proved to be a disadvantage thatthe user has to open the housing of the mobile telephone in order toinsert the SIM card into the SIM card holder, which is arranged in thehousing. The mechanical construction of the housing cover leads tohigher production costs of the mobile telephone and, furthermore, theelectronic circuitry of the mobile telephone is additionally exposed toenvironmental influences (dust, humidity, . . . ) when the housing isopened, which is also a disadvantage.

The SIM card holders secured to the outer surface of the housing havethe disadvantage that the connecting leads as well as the SIM cardholders are susceptible to damage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

With the known data carrier it has proved to be a disadvantage thatcontact-bound communication with the mobile telephone is possible onlyvia the SIM card holder in the housing or via the SIM card holdersecured to the housing, which SIM card holders have the disadvantagesmentioned hereinbefore.

It is an object of the invention to provide a processing device of thetype defined in the first paragraph and a data carrier of the typedefined in the second paragraph, which preclude the aforementioneddisadvantages. In order to achieve this object with such a processingdevice characteristic features in accordance with the invention areprovided, in such a manner that the processing device can becharacterized in the manner defined hereinafter.

A processing device for the processing of an information signal, thedevice having a housing and having first communication means forreceiving and/or transmitting the information signal, and havingprocessing means for the processing of the information signal receivedand/or to be transmitted, and having second communication means for thecontactless retrieval of control information stored in a data carrierwhich is detachably connection to the housing of the processing device,in which the processing of the information signal by the processingmeans can be influenced with the aid of the retrieved controlinformation.

In order to achieve said object with such a data carrier characteristicfeatures in accordance with the invention are provided, in such a mannerthat the data carrier can be characterized in the manner definedhereinafter.

A data carrier embedded in an adhesive label, which adhesive label canbe connected detachably to a processing device, which data carrierincludes third communication means for the communication with the secondcommunication means of the processing device as claimed in claim 1, andmemory means for storing control information which can be processed bythe processing device as claimed in claim 1.

This has the advantage that the user of the processing device merely hasto connect the data carrier detachably to the housing of the processingdevice in order to enable communication of the second communicationmeans with the data carrier. For this purpose, the user does not have toopen the housing of the processing device, which is more convenient forthe user and which protects the electronic circuitry in the processingdevice against environmental influences.

Since, as a result of the contactless communication of the secondcommunication means with the data carrier, the housing of the processingdevice need not have any opening nor a cover, the processing device canbe manufactured more cheaply and the housing can be, for example,watertight, dust-fight or even airtight. The detachable connectionguarantees a reliable contactless communication and, moreover, the datacarrier can always be detached from the housing and, if required, bereplaced with another data carrier.

The measures defined in claim 2 have the advantage that the data carrieris included in a label that can be connected detachably to the housingof the processing device in a particularly simple manner.

The measures defined in claim 3 have the advantage that the data carriercan take the form of a passive data carrier and need not have a battery.As a result of this, the data carrier can be very small and consequentlyprojects only slightly from the surface of the housing.

The measures defined in claim 4 have the advantage that the data carrieris connected to the housing inside the recess and therefore does notproject at all from the housing surface around the recess. Thisvirtually precludes the risk of damage to the data carrier.

By means of the measures defined in claim 5 a mobile telephone isobtained onto which the user, after having purchased the mobiletelephone, merely has to stick a label from his telephone provider inorder to “personalize” the mobile telephone (assign telephone number).Furthermore, the user can stick an additional label onto the mobiletelephone, in whose data carrier a calling credit is stored inaccordance with the prepay scheme.

The measures defined in claim 6 have the advantage that the mobiletelephone complies with current standards and is therefore suitable formass-marketing.

The measures defined in claim 7 have the advantage that a reproducingdevice (MP3 player, DVD player, CD player, computer, . . . ) is obtainedby means of which an encrypted information signal (audio, video, image,. . . ) read from a recording medium can be reproduced, for which merelya data carrier, which communicates in a contactless manner and whichrepresents the purchased right of reproduction, should be stuck onto thehousing of the reproducing device. This is particularly simple for theuser and the reproducing device does not require, for example, a holderfor a smart card which communicates in a contact-bound manner.

The measures defined in claim 8 have the advantage that the encryptedinformation signal can, for example, be downloaded from a serverconnected to the internet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described in more detail hereinafter withreference to the FIGURES, which show two embodiments which are given byway of example but to which the invention is not limited.

FIG. 1 shows the back of the housing of a mobile telephone and thefunctional blocks in the mobile telephone, which mobile telephone hascommunication means for the contactless communication with a SIM cardstuck onto the back of the mobile telephone.

FIG. 2 shows an MP3 player which can be connected to the internet and bymeans of which encrypted audio information can be loaded into areproduction memory of the MP3 player, the MP3 player havingcommunication means for the contactless communication with a datacarrier stuck onto the back of the MP3 player.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows the back of a mobile telephone 1, which forms a processingdevice, for processing an antenna signal AS, in accordance with a firstembodiment the invention. The right-hand part of the representation ofthe mobile telephone 1 shows an antenna 2, a housing rear wall 3 of ahousing 4 of the mobile telephone 1 and a recess 5 in the housing rearwall 3, which will be described in more detail hereinafter.

In the left-hand part of the representation of the mobile telephone 1the housing rear wall 3 has been removed symbolically and the electroniccircuitry in the mobile telephone 1 is shown as functional blocksarranged in the housing 4. These functional blocks of the mobiletelephone 1 are telephone means 6, processing means 7, a microphone 8and an loudspeaker 9.

When a telephone connection is established by means of the mobiletelephone 1 the telephone means 6 carry out a transmission protocol inaccordance with the GSM standard (ETS 300 607), the antenna 2 and thetelephone means 6 forming first communication means. The telephone means6 insert both user identification information BI (for example, thetelephone number of the mobile telephone 1) and first audio informationAI1 into the transmission protocol and read second audio information AI2from the transmission protocol. With the aid of the antenna 2 thetelephone means 6 receive the 900 MHz antenna signal AS and, in theirturn, supply the antenna signal AS to the antenna 2, by means of whichantenna signal AS said information is transmitted in accordance with thetransmission protocol.

Once the telephone connection has been established by means of themobile telephone 1 the mobile telephone 1 receives/transmits the antennasignal AS from/to a transmitting/receiving antenna of the telephoneprovider (for example, Mobilkom, MaxMobil or One in Austria) where themobile telephone 1 has logged on. This technique, which is customarywith mobile telephones, is known since long, for which reason theoperation of the telephone means 6, the antenna 2 and the provider'stransmitting/receiving antenna is not described in any further detail.

The telephone means 6 supply the first audio signal AI1 extracted fromthe antenna signal AS by the telephone means 6 to the processing means7. The processing means 7 process the received first audio informationAI1 the digital data of the first audio information AI1 being applied toa digital-to-analog converter and an amplified first analog audio signalAS1 thus obtained being applied to the loudspeaker 9 of the mobiletelephone 1.

When the user of the mobile telephone 1 speaks into the microphone 8once a telephone connection has been established a second analog audiosignal AS2 is applied from the microphone 8 to the processing means 7.The processing means 7 include an analog-to-digital converter, by meansof which the amplified second analog audio signal AS2 is digitized andis applied to the telephone means 6 as second audio information AI2.

The mobile telephone 1 now has transmitting/receiving means 10 and an HFantenna 11, which form second communication means for the contactlessretrieval of control information. The control information is now formedby the information which to data is usually stored in a so-called SIMcard (ETS 300 045) and is read out of a data carrier of the SIM card ina contact-bound manner via a SIM card holder. The control informationincludes the user identification information BI and telephone provideridentification information TI, which identifies the telephone providervia whose network of transmitting/receiving antennas and switchingequipment a telephone connection is established and maintained.

The transmitting/receiving means 10 are adapted to read this controlinformation from a passive data carrier in accordance with theISO/IEC-14443 standard in a contactless manner. For this purpose, thetransmitting/receiving means 10 transmit an HF signal having a frequencyof 13.56 MHz, which carries pulse-width modulated retrieval informationfrom the transmitting/receiving means 10, upon which the data carrier 12transfers the control information to the transmitting/receiving means 10by means of load modulation. The operation of suchtransmitting/receiving means 10 and such a data carrier 12 aredisclosed, for example, in the document WO00/45328, which isincorporated in the disclosure of the present document by reference.

The transmitting/receiving means 10 can apply the user identificationinformation BI and the telephone provider identification information TIretrieved from the data carrier 12 by said transmitting/receivingstation 10 to the telephone means 6 and the processing means 7. Thetelephone means 6 are adapted to establish a telephone connection onlyafter reception of the user identification information BI and thetelephone provider identification information I. This is because it isnot possible to establish a telephone connection by means of a newlypurchased mobile telephone without the allocation of a telephone numberand the telephone provider's transmitting/receiving antenna network tobe used.

The data carrier 12 is now embedded in an adhesive label 13 and isdetachably attached to housing rear wall 3 of the mobile telephone 1 bymeans of the adhesive label 13. This has the advantage that the housing4 of the mobile telephone 1 is wholly imperforate and need not be openedby the user for personalization (telephone number and telephoneprovider) after the purchase. Thus, the watertight housing 4 of themobile telephone 1 can be realized in a particularly cost-effectivemanner. In addition, the electronic circuitry of the mobile telephone 1is protected against environmental influences such as dust and moistureor an electrostatic discharge as a result of the user touching thetelephone means 6, which is very advantageous.

Moreover, it is particularly advantageous that after the purchase of themain bristles 1 the user merely has to purchase or collect the adhesivelabel at an outlet of the telephone provider and stick this adhesivelabel 13 onto the housing rear wall 3 of the mobile telephone 1 in orderto make it possible to make his first telephone call with the mobiletelephone 1. This makes for particularly simple handling by the user.

The housing rear wall 3 now has the recess 5 and a description of themobile telephone I instructs the user to attach the adhesive label 13 inthis recess 5. This has the advantage that the surface of the adhesivelabel 13 with the embedded data carrier 12 does not extend outside overthe surface of the housing rear wall 3 beyond the recess 5. Thisprecludes damage to the adhesive label 13 in the best possible way.Furthermore, the recess 5 has the advantage that the data carrier 12 isattached directly opposite the HF antenna 11 of the mobile telephone 1,thus guaranteeing an optimum communication via the short airtransmission path.

The provision of the transmitting/receiving means 10, which transmit theHF signal, has the advantage that a passive data carrier 12 can be usedas a data carrier 12 which communicates in a contactless manner. Thisenables a battery for the power supply of the data carrier 12 in theadhesive label 13 to be dispensed with, as a result of which theadhesive label 13 is particularly thin.

It is to be noted that a further adhesive label could be attached to thehousing rear wall 3, in which label another data carrier is embedded,which stores a calling credit of the user. During each telephone callmade by the user the telephone charge is deducted from the callingcredit thus stored. When the user's calling credit is used up the usercould detach the further adhesive label from the housing rear wall andreplace it with a new adhesive label with a new calling credit. One ormore further adhesive labels could be applied side by side or,alternatively, onto one another, which is particularly advantageous as aresult of the close proximity to the HF antenna 11.

It is to be noted that the second communication means may also beadapted to provide capacitive contactless communication or inductivecontactless communication in accordance with another standard, forexample ISO/IEC15693.

It is to be noted that the first communication means could also beadapted to communicate in accordance with another telephone standard,for example the UMTS standard and that video information or otherinformation could be transmitted in accordance with the transmissionprotocol of the standard.

It is to be noted that the adhesive label with the embedded data carriermay be applied to the housing of the processing device at an arbitrarylocation. The location of the second communication means in the housingas well as a location on the housing which provides optimum protectionagainst damage may then play a role. However, the adhesive label may, inany case, also be attached to the housing front side of the processingdevice.

It is to be noted that a multitude of further possibilities ofdetachably connecting a data carrier to a housing are known to oneskilled in the art. For example, the data carrier may be inserted into aholder arranged on the housing exterior. Likewise, magnetic forces maybe used in order to connect the data carrier detachably to the housingof the processing device.

FIG. 2 shows an MP3 player 14 which forms a processing device inaccordance with a second embodiment of the invention. The MP3 player 14can be connected to the internet with the aid of a connector 15. Bymeans of keys 16 and a display 17 a connection can be established with acomputer server (for example, Napster) connected to the internet andstoring encrypted audio information of pieces of music, encoded inaccordance with the MP3 encoding method.

A user of the MP3 player 14 can select, for example, the piece of music“Kleine Nachtmusik” from a list of titles of pieces of music displayedby means of the display 17 and can subsequently actuate a download key18. Subsequently, the encrypted and encoded audio information isdownloaded from the computer server and stored in a memory of the MP3player 14.

The encrypted and encoded audio information stored in the MP3 player 14can only be decrypted by decryption means of the MP3 player 14 whenappropriate key information is applied to the decryption means. The userof the MP3 player can now buy an adhesive label 19 with an embedded datacarrier 20 which stores exactly the appropriate key information. Bypurchasing the adhesive label 19 the user acquires a reproduction rightfor one or more pieces of music.

The reproduction right may be limited to a given number of stored piecesof music but also to a given number of reproduction sessions. Likewise,the reproduction right may allow reproduction (decryption) of givenpieces of music (for example, classical music) and may require thepurchase of another adhesive label for the reproduction of other piecesof music (for example, rock, performer: Beatles).

When the user has stuck the respective adhesive label on the MP3 player14, the decrypting means of the MP3 layer 14 are arranged for decryptingthe encrypted and encoded audio information and for reproducing thetrack “Kleine Nachtmusik” Thus, the processing of the received encryptedand encoded audio information is influenced by the key informationretrieved from the data carrier in a contactless manner, so as to allowdecryption of the received audio information.

This has the advantage that a reproduction right for decryptedinformation downloadable from the internet can be purchased very easilyin the form of an adhesive label in an arbitrary shop, which label canbe stuck onto the MP3 player. This makes for particularly simplehandling by the user. In addition, a holder for a smart card having adata carrier for contact-bound communication can be dispensed with, as aresult of which the processing device can be manufactured in aparticularly cost-effective manner.

The MP3 player 14 has a recess 21 in which the adhesive label 19 can bestuck, as a result of which the advantages mentioned hereinbefore forthe mobile telephone 1 are also obtained for the MP3 player 14.

It is to be noted that a processing device in accordance with theinvention may be adapted to process arbitrary information signals(picture information, sound information, text information, videoinformation). Furthermore, the relevant control information may causethe received information signal to be influenced in a widely varyingmanner.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A processing device for the processing of atelephone signal, the device comprising: a housing; a firstcommunication device disposed within the housing that is configured toreceive or transmit the telephone signal; a processor that is configuredto process the received or transmitted telephone signal with the aid ofcontrol information; a second communication device, disposed within thehousing, that is configured to contactlessly retrieve the controlinformation from a data carrier, wherein the data carrier is a SIM card,disposed completely outside of the housing, adhesively attached to thehousing of the processing device, and configured to communicatewirelessly with the second communication device through a wall of thehousing, and the retrieved control information identifies either atelephone number of a user of the processing device or calling creditinformation.
 2. The processing device as claimed in claim 1, in whichthe adhesive attachment of the data carrier to the housing is anadhesive joint.
 3. The processing device as claimed in claim 1, in whichthe second communication device is configured to generate a highfrequency signal which can be utilized by the data carrier to generatean internal supply voltage and communicate with the control information.4. The processing device as claimed in claim 1, in which the housing ofthe processing device has a recess, in which recess the data carrier canbe connected detachably to the housing.
 5. The processing device asclaimed in claim 4, in which the first communication device isconfigured to operate in accordance with the GSM standard and/or theUMTS standard.
 6. The processing device as claimed in claim 1, in whichthe processing device is a reproducing device for the reproduction of anencrypted information signal, whose first communication device isconfigured to receive the encrypted information signal and whoseprocessor is configured to decrypt the received encrypted informationsignal, and in which the control information retrieved from thedetachably connected data carrier by the second communication deviceincludes key information for decrypting the received encryptedinformation signal.
 7. The processing device as claimed in claim 6, inwhich the first communication device can be connected to a data networkin order to retrieve the encrypted information signal.
 8. A data carrierembedded in an adhesive label, wherein the adhesive label can beconnected detachably to a processing device, the data carrier includes athird communication device configured for communication with the secondcommunication device of the processing device as claimed in claim 1, anda memory configured for storing control information which can beprocessed by the processing device as claimed in claim
 1. 9. The datacarrier as claimed in claim 8, in which the data carrier is configuredto provide contactless communication in accordance with the ISO14443standard.
 10. The processing device of claim 1, wherein the data carrieris detachably connected by a magnetic field.
 11. The processing deviceof claim 1, further comprising: a second data carrier detachablyconnected to the housing of the processing device.
 12. The processingdevice of claim 1, wherein the housing of the processing device does nothave an opening.
 13. The processing device of claim 1, wherein thehousing of the processing device does not have a cover.
 14. Theprocessing device of claim 1, wherein the housing of the processingdevice is watertight.
 15. The processing device of claim 1, wherein thedata carrier is embedded in an adhesive label, and the adhesive label isattached to the housing of the processing device at a location on thehousing that provides optimum protection against damage to the datacarrier.
 16. The processing device of claim 15, wherein the adhesivelabel is attached to a rear wall of the housing of the processingdevice.
 17. The processing device of claim 16, wherein the rear wall hasa recess, and the adhesive label is attached to the rear wall in therecess such that a surface of the adhesive label does not extend overthe rear wall beyond the recess.
 18. The processing device of claim 17,wherein the data carrier is attached directly opposite the secondcommunication device with respect to the rear wall of the housing. 19.The processing device of claim 18, wherein the processing device is aDVD player, a CD player, or a computer.
 20. The processing device ofclaim 1, wherein the data carrier is disposed completely outside of thehousing of the processing device while the first communication devicereceives and transmits the telephone signal.